FRONT ROYAL, Va., Nov. 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International (HLI)-the world's largest pro-life, pro-family human rights organization, with over 90 affiliates in 75 countries around the world-has issued the following statement regarding the Republican Party's loss of power in the U.S. Congress:

"If the Republican Party truly wants to know why they lost, they need only look in the mirror. The most vulnerable seats in both houses were those held by politicians who had abandoned the pro-life and the pro-marriage principles that first brought them to power.

"In many states, voters turned out in large numbers to defend traditional marriage, but voters were not willing to support those who would not support their values. Some so-called conservative senators were all too happy to water down or jettison their 'unwavering' defense of the unborn in the name of political expediency and now they have paid the price. Self- described Reagan conservative George Allen bragged about owning stock in Barr Pharmaceuticals-the manufacturer of Plan B-and President Bush's shameful support of this deadly drug being sold over the counter deflated conservatives' support of many candidates.

"In Missouri, Sen. Jim Talent fearfully refusal to come out against the state's cloning initiative not only resulted in its passage, but the loss of his Senate seat. Sen. Rick Santorum's race in Pennsylvania is also telling. Those who espouse 'conventional wisdom' will tell you that issues like abortion never decide a race. That's a lie, as evidenced by the fact that the Democrats purposely picked a pro-life candidate, recognizing that it would neutralize the greatest advantage Santorum had in his re-election bid.

"The Giuliani-McCain-Romney wing of the Republican Party is responsible for this overwhelming defeat. If the GOP truly wishes to regain the trust of pro-life, pro-family conservatives, then they must look to leaders like Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) -- who has never wavered on his principles or his defense of the innocent unborn -- as their model."

The title, source and link on this were not matching with the source and link you had provided.

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Washington, D.C.  In a dramatic shift of allegiance, two voting blocs abandoned the Republican Party in yesterdays election. (1) Married Mothers and Married Men were decisive factors for the Republicans in 2000 and in 2004, but in the mid-term elections of 2006 they were as likely to vote Democratic as Republican. (2) Evangelical support of Republican candidates dropped from 74 percent in 2004 to 69 percent in 2006.

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of CWAs Beverly LaHaye Institute, said, Married Mothers and Married Men  the M & Ms  are very concerned about issues affecting their families, especially issues related to their childrens well-being and future. Families had such high hopes when conservatives were in power; they ended up discouraged, disappointed and disillusioned.

Crouse said, In terms of how groups voted, there were slight, but very significant changes from 2002 to 2006 that spelled disaster for the GOP.

More Republicans voted for Democrats (9 percent), than Democrats voted for Republicans (6 percent). More conservatives voted for Democrats (21 percent), than liberals voted for Republicans (10 percent). Nearly 30 percent (29 percent) of White Evangelicals voted for Democrats and 54 percent of those who attend church weekly voted for Democrats. Among voters who thought that the scandals were extremely important, 53 percent voted Democrat. Though roughly the same percentage of evangelicals voted in 2006 as voted in 2002 (24 and 25 percent), there was a 2 percentage point drop in conservatives who voted (34 percent in 2002 compared with 32 percent in 2006). Also, there was an increase in the percentage of liberals who voted; in 2002, 17 percent of voters identified themselves as liberal compared to 21 percent in 2006.

Finally, concluded Crouse, pessimistic voters dominated this election. More than half of the voters (56 percent) said that the country is on the wrong track, nearly six in ten voters said that they disapprove of the way President Bush is handling his job (down from 2004), and 61 percent of voters disapprove of the Republican-controlled Congress.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) is the nations largest public policy womens organization.

This article makes little sense to me. Talent did forcefully come out against cloning - he lost. Allen has been very pro life (stock ownership aside), and was endorsed by the National Right to Life committee. He likely lost. Santorum has been a strong conservative and Catholic. He lost.

The Houe and likely the Senate are soon to be in Democratic hands. That means only a pro abortion supreme court justic can be confirmed. WE all know that there will be at least one Supreme court justice that will retire in the next 2 years. That means that for many more years millions of babies will die because some of the religious right handed the house and senate to the Democrats.

I wonder what God Will say to them when they stand before him on judgement day and HE asks why did you vote for the party that put millions of innocent unborn babies to death? Can you think of a defense for putting the pro abortion party in charge of both houses... making it impossible to get a court that will over turn Roe Vs. Wade?

The article strikes me as a result of disappointed hopes and political naivite.

For instance, it's true that Casey posed as pro-life in Pennsylvania, helping him to defeat Santorum, who lost momentum because of the Trent Lott business. But IS Casey pro-life? I am about 98.6% certain that he will vote with the Democrats on abortion issues. He's not his father. He made no commitments, he just kept a low profile.

This sort of thinking will lead to a long, lonely journey into the wilderness for the Republican Party. I really don't understand why so many people (here and elsewhere) believe that conservative moderates are solely to blame for this mess.

It stands to reason that the further right a candidate is (socially and fiscally) the further right to a larger section of the electorate they will be, leaving more ground for their opponent to play in.

Moderates lost last night not because they ran as moderates, but because they ran in more moderate states. Presenting themselves as staunch conservatives would have simply led to a larger defeat. Chris Shays didn't survive this time around by proclaiming to hold true to conservative values--he may well of lost if he had done.

Some of my liberal coworkers where gitty about the election and where asking me in a mocking tone "So how does this affect Santorum's chances of a Presidential run now?"

I responded: "I am glad that Santorum has more time to spend with his beautiful family.... I thought that particular Senate race was interesting. Casey for the most part ran on a conservative platform, pro-life, finish job in Iraq, low taxes, etc. It was good for the democratic party to have some diversity of opinion within the party etc, something which has been lacking in recent history, etc." [Of course I am sick to my stomach over the loss, but I was trying to be positive : )]

Since I said that they are not gitty anymore. In fact, I haven't heard anymore political discussion. I think the pro-life issue weighs on their conscience [esp after voting against their conscience on this matter just yesterday].

This seems to contradict or ignore everything we heard in the exit polls - at least notable the Fox NEws poll - in which voters overwhelmingly said the Iraq war and corruption were their largest concerns.

Anyone will try to spin why we lost to fit their movement and their goals. But you can only ignore what the people - the voters - themselves are saying for so long before you cease to be politically relevant. JMHO.

"If the Republican Party truly wants to know why they lost, they need only look in the mirror. The most vulnerable seats in both houses were those held by politicians who had abandoned the pro-life and the pro-marriage principles that first brought them to power."

Rev Tom apparently didn't notice that a lot of pro-life candidates lost their seats as well. The world is sliding toward destruction (as the bible prophesies). We can try to slow the slide, but we can't stop it.

14
posted on 11/08/2006 9:02:04 AM PST
by MEGoody
(Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)

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